


When At First He didn't Run

by FawnoftheWoods



Series: Where the Hitter Is [4]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Episode Tag, Gen, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 06:06:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13452105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FawnoftheWoods/pseuds/FawnoftheWoods
Summary: This is a bit of a character study for Eliot during the first episode.





	When At First He didn't Run

When he heard he was going to do this job with others, he almost backed out.  But 300K was a lot of much needed money right now.  He had a black mark on his record from that damn sword hiest 18 months ago.  He was just lucky Guttman had lost interest before he had to deal with the fallout.  He needed another few good jobs.  Especially since he wanted to stay ahead of Damien.  

He was tickled when he heard this job had enticed Ford back into the game.  Damn he would have killed IYS for leaving him hanging out to dry.  His employer’s fear of him was half his insurance policy.  Others fear was the rest.  When Nate got in touch for set up, the man gave them each a list of tasks they had to be able to accomplish and additional supplies to carry.  Why he needed a leg brace was something Eliot had decided not to ask.

His part in the scheme didn’t appear until things started to go sideways, as normal.  Hardison was a stupid punk kid that 300K would barely be enough to tolerate and if Parker obeyed any rules, only god himself knew them.  He about bit his tongue when she sent them down the elevator shaft.  Hearing Nate tell him he was up sent an additional jolt of adrenaline through his already hyped system.  He wanted someone to hit.  Using the kid as bait was a bonus.  So was the appreciative glance when he finished clearing the zone.  

Turned out the kid had more of a spine than he thought.  When the lock cracked he gave a truly amazing grin.  He had to hand it to the punk, Hardison did his job.  And when things started falling to pieces and they were all bailing, he held it like a pro, claiming he had the merchandise.  No hysteria.

Not getting paid wasn’t in the plan though.  This guppy hired him, he doesn’t get to not pay him.  Especially if one of the others screwed up.  Of course, leave it to a computer geek to bring a gun to a fight with a hitter.  Parker at least had a handle on hers.  Even is she had a special angry place.

Getting blown up like an idiot wasn’t in the plan either.  Damn, waking up with the cops cuffing him wasn’t fun.  He had forgotten these guys weren’t his brothers.  They were supposed to be a walk away. Despite that, despite his joke that he liked the plan where Hardison died, when the kid tripped, he picked him up.  Nate had opened the door, waited for them.  But dammit Parker and Hardison were just kids. Cute kids, but not his responsibility.

Nate getting them all out, was simply because it got him out with minimum violence.  And watching Nate in action was sweet.   Especially on his side.  By the way, Hardison is not cute.  Definitely not cute and definitely getting taught a lesson about respecting the muscle.  Though the apartment was a nice surprise.  Parker's analysis of Dubenich’s protection was spot on.  As spot on as her priorities were off.

By that point, he really was starting to hate Nate’s little lectures.  For one thing the man had a knack for making him feel like he was stupid.  First, he came to the warehouse to get blown up and now he trusted Dubenich because he was a thief.  The guy wasn’t a thief and he was totally grifted, so he could shove it.

London had sounded good until Nate sounded like he was started another plan.  The first 2 had been fun, and if they fell apart, Eliot would just hop ship.  Nate was right, he could get his payback and some money while he was at it.  Nate played Parker’s skewed priorities well. She was on board.

Why did Nate care?  His son, that was a good enough reason for Eliot.  Family was one thing no one should touch.

Hardison was different.  Eliot couldn’t figure the kid out.  What the hell did he want?  Pornos, seriously?  It was like he’s down for whatever, did he ever care?

And what the hell is a Sophie?

Seriously, what was she?  His brain hurt listening to her try to portray Lady MacBeth.  Or he remembers thinking so.  He’d seen the play when working for Damien.  But Jesus, this was bad.  What the hell could she do? They were so getting caught.

He discovered Sophie was a surprise beyond all surprise.  He should have known when she knew about Ban Houei Xai.  She returned his attempt to flirt with a seriously dangerous statement.  It was an odd place for him to be and she suddenly became more dangerous to him.  

So did Nate.  He picked up aerospace engineering like he picked up everything else, was there anything this man didn’t know?

Parker was crazy.  Sophie was smart, Nate was crafty and Hardison was a geek.  He had found a group of dangerous people.  He needed to get away from them as soon as possible.  He also was intrigued.  He fell back to his standard.  Learn what he can for later, enjoy the interesting people and keep your exits open.

Besides Sophie and Nate were fun to watch.

And oh god, Parker was crazy!

_"Speed_."

He made a note to be wary of Parker’s plans.  He passed them as she led Sophie into the stairwell.  He mentally wished Sophie luck.  Her shriek in his earbud had him biting his lip to keep from laughing.  Especially at Dubenich’s comment about her “glow”.

Listening to Dubenich close their trap was a thing of beauty.  His screams for Anna echoed through the halls.  They walked in and just took all the files they needed.  It felt good, gleeful almost to wear an FBI coat and just waltz right out with all those file.  He didn’t even care that Nate wanted to return the plan free of charge.  Watching Hardison hand them out was entertaining as Parker giggled with glee at them.

After he and Hardison checked that Pierson was alone, he sat back and watched as Hardison went online with his smile of unholy glee.  This punk really did enjoy his computer stuff.

And drawing out suspense.  He was about ready to smack him to give them the damn envelopes.  He needed to know if he made anywhere near the 300K he was supposed to originally.  Sophie’s conversation with Parker was entertainment while he waited.

$32,761,349.05

And Eliot was free!  This was enough for Eliot to not have to worry about being chased again.

32 million dollars!  He had never seen such a payday.  Hardison was allowed all the cackling he wanted at his computer, damn, he _was_ good!

They were all good.  A walkaway.  No way!  Parker and Hardison were going to get themselves in trouble.  They just had to convince Nate.

Black king

White Knight

**Author's Note:**

> I do intend to do more episodes. Massage me if you have a specific one in season 1. I want to do them roughly in order.


End file.
